


Men of Honor

by esteoflorien



Category: Battlestar Galactica, Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-07
Updated: 2015-02-07
Packaged: 2018-03-10 23:13:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3306887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esteoflorien/pseuds/esteoflorien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She spies him out of the corner of her eye – his crude patch, his wild beard, his hat – turning away from the crowds, when the people chant the Old Man’s name, lifting him up on their shoulders, an outpouring of gratitude.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Men of Honor

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PerilouslyClose](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerilouslyClose/gifts).



She spies him out of the corner of her eye – his crude patch, his wild beard, his hat – turning away from the crowds, when the people chant the Old Man’s name, lifting him up on their shoulders, an outpouring of gratitude.

She loves the Old Man, of course, far more than she ever did Tigh, even now, when so much has changed. She does not begrudge him this moment of unsought adulation; he deserves it. They concocted a ridiculous, last-ditch plan and the Old Man had the balls to actually carry it out. And not just carry it out, but see it through to completion, see the refugees come aboard. There are men who seek adoration and honors, and she knows that the Admiral is not one of them. There is a difference between men who are honored and men of honor and she knows which he is.

And yet.

And yet it was Tigh who suffered, Tigh who refused to break, Tigh who knit together a ragtag army and designed a strategy that, against all odds, had actually worked.  

And it was, she realizes, with no small degree of irony, Tigh who did it all with the utmost confidence that the Old Man would return, even as the weeks turned to months and even she had begun to wonder, in her very darkest moments, when the sky was silent but for the harshly unpleasant roar of the Cylon raiders, if _Galactica_ would return for them.

(Sam had wondered too, sometimes quietly, sometimes aloud, whether _Galactica_ would return, or whether she would persevere, find a new home, and rebuild. _I wouldn’t begrudge them that_ , he said, and she knew he was honest. At times she even thought that he wanted them to have taken that course. _They didn’t leave me_ , she’d tell him. _You don’t understand but they didn’t leave me, and I know he’s coming back_. And then he had.)

She pushes her way through the crowd, following him as he slowly makes his way off the deck. He moves seemingly without noticing anyone, just aos no one notices him, one old, ragged man among many.

“Colonel!” she shouts.

“Captain,” he replies, and returns her salute.

“I don’t believe in hugging when on duty, sir,” she says, after a moment. “It, uh, also didn’t work out so good the last time I did that.”

Tigh laughs, seemingly in spite of himself. “Get cleaned up, Captain,” he says, turning away, and Kara rather thinks his steps are a little lighter as he slowly makes his way down the corridor. The people’s excitement echoes behind her as she too begins her own long walk back.

There will be men, she supposes, whose names will be enshrined in history until the stories of what was become legends of what might have happened. The Old Man will be one of them. At some point, he’ll become something other than himself, and then, later, there will be no one to remember who he was at all. They will remember moments like this, and not all the messy bits in between.

Then there will be quiet heroes, men of honor who discharged their duties as best they were able, who rose to the occasion, who won unsung battles, and whose names will pass quietly away. Kara doesn’t often set herself to wondering after her own legacy, but as the sound of Tigh’s footsteps fades away, she doesn’t think it would be so terrible to be one of those.


End file.
